“Yes. Time and death, it’s a fate that nothing can stop.”

I couldn’t understand what she meant at all. These were philosophical words too difficult for a 7-year-old.

Larisa decided to ask William without hesitation. And she waited for tea time with William.

“You know what, William?”

“What?”

“I’m told I’m William’s fate!”

Pfft-!!!

William spit out his tea in a refined manner.

“Who told you such a thing?”

“Mother did!”

William cried out as if having a fit.

“Gasp, what else did Mother say? She didn’t say anything strange, did she?”

“She said time and death, it’s a fate that nothing can stop.”

“Argh!”

William’s hands and feet curled up.

“What does that even mean? Do you know, William?”

“I don’t know!”

Larisa was disappointed. She thought William was smart and would know what it meant…

And then Larisa dealt a fatal blow to William’s remaining sanity.

“And she said that in return for taking good care of me until I become an adult, I have to bear William’s child when I become an adult.”

“Ack.”

The tea he thought he had spit out all got stuck in his throat. William started hitting his chest with a pale face.

“Are you crazy, what kind of thing is that to say to a child. Ah sorry, no, are you really insane!”

William jumped up and shouted in agitation. As he was huffing and puffing, about to storm into the laboratory, someone gently grabbed his sleeve.

It was Larisa.

“William, are you okay?”

“I’m not, I’m not okay. Were you okay hearing such things?!”

“Yes.”

William paused for a moment.

“…You’re okay with it?”

‘You’re okay with having a child with me?’

Just as William’s mind was about to fly off to a distant place, Larisa said nonchalantly.

“Yes. It’s still a long time until I become an adult anyway. And didn’t you say you were going to run away before then?”

William, whose excitement had cooled, slumped back into his seat.

“Ah, that’s right.”

“But when are you going to run away, William?”

“Well…”

Originally, he had planned to run away before entering the academy.

After all, it would be utterly humiliating if it was discovered that he alone couldn’t move mana after entering the magic department under the Rodante name.

But now that he had decided to enter the knight department, he wasn’t really feeling like running away anymore…

‘She seems to be okay with it now because she firmly believes I’m going to run away?’

When William didn’t give any particular answer, Larisa asked with an anxious face.

“Did you perhaps lose the desire to run away?”

“Ah, no? I was just thinking about when would be a good time to do it.”

“Phew, that’s a relief. I thought maybe William wanted to have a baby with me…”

If a 7-year-old says such things and you don’t deny it, you become a criminal. William shook his head desperately.

“I’ll run away. I’ll definitely run away. I’ll run away from this damn house someday for sure because it’s so filthy.”

“Really? Then let’s cooperate.”

“Cooperate?”

It was a very difficult word for a 7-year-old to use, but it was a common word in the back alleys. Larisa said with a bright smile.

“When William runs away, I want to run away together!”

William couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Lara really trusts me. She trusts… Yeah…’

William felt strange. It felt good but also bitter, and like he shouldn’t feel good… As William was struggling in a peculiar sense of guilt, Larisa asked about his future plans.

“What are you going to do after running away, William?”

“Well, I was thinking of making a living with alchemy…”

“Wow! That’s cool. I want to learn alchemy too. Can I be that thing, what’s it called? Assistant! I want to be your assistant. You’ll teach me, right?”

“If you want to learn, I can teach you. Unlike magic, anyone can learn it.”

“I know what that is. It’s called being fair, right?”

“Fair?”

Unlike magic which can’t be learned without talent, alchemy is a fair discipline that anyone can learn even without talent. William had never heard such an interpretation before.

“Yeah, it’s fair. Though it’s usually looked down upon by magicians and treated as trash by ordinary people who couldn’t become magicians…”

“Trash? But William, you’ve already helped Jeje with alchemy. If you help a lot of people with alchemy, people will think alchemy is cool too.”

“Yeah.”

William thought such a life wouldn’t be bad. No, when he sincerely imagined himself like that, he quite liked it.

If cute little assistant Larisa was there with him, it would never be boring.

William pondered for a moment.

“Then… how about you run away as soon as you graduate from the academy?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. By then you’ll already be an adult, so you won’t need a guardian. Surely Mother won’t tell you to have a baby with me as soon as you become an adult.”

“Okay!”

Larisa smiled brightly. William also naturally became happy at her quite happy-looking smile.

Larisa was of course happy. She was naturally happy since she even had a job lined up after graduation. The heir of the Rodante family offering to take her as an assistant.

She wouldn’t have to worry about making a living for the rest of her life. Larisa felt really reassured.

*

While the children were talking about their future aspirations, Guinevere suddenly felt strange.

‘The mana…’

The flow of mana had changed. Guinevere left the laboratory and flew to the highest roof of the mansion. And she began to stare at one particular place.

“The Valley of Dragons.”

She had an ominous feeling. Powerful mana was gathering in the direction of the Valley of Dragons.

“Are the dragons gathering?”

This had never happened in the past. Something had changed. Guinevere bit her lip in anxiety.

‘Could it be because of William?’

It was an intuition. If the sleeping dragons were waking up and gathering, it must be related to the time regression. Guinevere tended to trust her own intuitions.

Guinevere, who had returned to the laboratory by teleportation, glared at the golden sphere.

Just as Guinevere’s mana had protected her mind, there was a high probability that the dragons also remembered the past. Among them, there might be dragons annoyed by the repeated regressions.

If the dragons decided to stop the time regression, what would be the simplest method? It would be to kill William before he uses the time regression.

Then…

‘I need to complete it first.’

It had always been like this. In the end, all problems were usually solved when Guinevere completed her magic. This time was no different.

“I need to complete it before William…”

So that the dragons who mistakenly think Guinevere is the culprit of the time regression might attack her instead of William. It would probably be difficult to survive.

“Ah.”

Guinevere felt her heart flutter for the first time in a very long while.

When she thought she might die, there was a face that came to mind. She wanted to meet him again at least once. A man she knew nothing about except his name.

“Siod.”

After surpassing human mana, she had not aged. Even as the people she knew grew old and died one by one, Guinevere remained young and healthy.

Sometimes, a life that might continue indefinitely felt lonely. On a day when loneliness was piercing, she met that man.

‘I’ve never seen a human like you before.’

Silver hair cold enough to make one shiver, gray eyes, a beauty that seemed unparalleled in the human world. And a man with an antique accent.

‘How old are you?’

Guinevere had long forgotten her age. And this man also possessed powerful mana. Clearly more powerful than Guinevere…

‘I don’t know. How old are you?’

‘It’s a secret.’

Perhaps, she thought, she could spend eternity with this man. So she impulsively spent the night with him.

“I wonder if I’ll see him again.”

Guinevere smirked. She never thought there would come a day when she would miss the man who had appeared suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly.

It wasn’t because she loved him deeply. A man who appeared on a day when even such emotions had become dull and comforted her loneliness for a short while. And a man who gave her William as a result of one night’s play.

Now that she thought she might die, she remembered him. That man might be able to protect William and Larisa even after she died.

However, with the thought that followed, Guinevere smiled dejectedly.

‘That man left even knowing he had William.’

After William was born, she too had forgotten about Siod and lived on. Because if William became a magician, he might be able to live as long as her.

‘I see. I just didn’t want to be left alone.’

That must be why she had been so obsessed with William’s magic education. Because she was afraid of being left alone.

Guinevere shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Completing the regression magic is the priority now.”

And if Larisa doesn’t die and properly matches with William, if a fruit is born between the two, William won’t think of turning back time.

Guinevere knew. Because she would never regress to a time before William was born. How could she turn back time when there was no guarantee of giving birth to William again?

That’s why she demanded a baby from Larisa in return. The two would fall in love anyway. As they always had in past lives. Then, at least in this life, she hoped the two would be happy.

Guinevere never wanted to regress again, even if she died. In this life, she would absolutely not let her son die. For that…

“By completing this…”

I have to bear it all. Guinevere muttered.

Somehow, she felt lighthearted. So Guinevere smiled. Death awaits her too. She felt she should do her best so as not to regret that moment, whenever it may come.

Completing the time regression magic, properly loving William this time so he doesn’t become obsessed only with Larisa, and blessing the future of the two. That was the role Guinevere had to play.

Becoming a mother, protecting a child, continuing the generation. Who would have thought that these things, which she had considered so ordinary and insignificant, would hold such important meaning in Guinevere’s life?